Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-10-14
st aghiNaion S tAnlaya
THEIIoUSEOy THE MARSH;
THE MYSTERY OF THE ALDERS.
RI FLORENCE WARDEN.
CHAPTER NIX.

IA u wv IA WI. H. lNl Hdu .iiitluN
been, the shock seemed in moment
TO change the aspect of the whole
world to me. MY wild wandering ewes
fell upon Mrs. Rayner, who sat with
her hands tightly clasped and head
bent, listening to the proclamation of
the secret which had ighed her down
for years.
l sunk down upon the floor beside
her. and she put her thin wasted arms
round my neck and kissed me without
word. And the three men quietly
left the room.
'.Uh, Mrs. Kayner," whispered. lit
is terrible for you"
Not so terrible to me-" she whis-
percd back, YEARLY. Il have known
it for ycars-almost ever since l mar
ried him. But don't talk about it any
more, said she. glancing furtively
round the room. He may be in the
house at this moment and they might
search and watch for months, but they
would never catch him. But he will
make us sutfer-me-ah, and you, too,
now. You were so unsuspicious, yet
it must have been you who set Laurence
Reade upon the track"
AWoI VI MI. NAY uCA. I'll, L AcNCE
thought of such thingr' whispered,
shuddcring.
And l told her all about my sus-
picions OF Tom Parkes, my visit to the
hall, my letter to Laurence and all l
snid in it.
MIR Reade has shown energy and
courage" said she. ''But he will suf-
fer for it, too. You don't know that
man yet. He will never let Laurence
marry you. Even if he were in prison,
he would manage to prevent it"
Laurence then came in and told us
they had failed to capture Gordon or
any of the others. He would return
with the constables and sleep at the
hall but Maynard and two officers
would remain at the Alders to keep
watch. Then he said, very gently. to
Mrs. Rayner:
Twill you forgive me for the blow
have innocently brought on you?''
cit is no blow to me-" said she, rails
ing her sad eyes to his face. THAT
NANNY husband-would have got
rid of me long ago, but that he hated
violence and dreaded it. Every thing
short of that he has tried" she whis-
pered; land it IS not my fault that my
wretched life has fingered in spite Of
him.
Laurence ground his teeth.
1.-The wretchr' he said, in a low
voice. "But he shall pay for it now.
I'll ransack the whole world till we
have unearthed him."
"You will never do that" said she,
calmly. "He dares too much for that.
He is no coward to lie in corner"
she went on, with a sort of perverse
pride in the man for whom every spark
oflove was long since dead. ale will
brave you to your faces and escape you
all But you have done your best
You are brave man. Mr.. Reade. You
would help me if you could. Good
night"
She shook hands with him and left
the room. He turned to ME quickly.
"YOu must both leave this place, :"
said he. 1.-The long-continued suffer-
ing has almost turned that poor lady's
brain. But she is safe from that vile
wretch now; and you, too, oh. my dar-
ling, thank Heavenr'
There was a tap at the door, and
the voice of the elder detective said:
Are you ready, sir?'
'All right" said Laurence; and then
added, in a voice for me only: Pm
not ready bit. should like to stay
and comfort YOU forever. Take care
of your poor little wounded arm.
Goodnight, goodnight, my darling!"
I awoke next morning feeling ill and
arose with hot, aching head and with
my arm paining me not a little. The
doctor called during the forenoon and
at once ordered me off to bed.
Although my faith in Mr.. Rayner was
entirely gone my affection for him was
gradually coming back. The wicked
things he had done only heard about;
and how could the impression so given
outweigh the stronger one of his con-
slant Kindness to me? And to think l
had drawn down Justice upon him
for it was justice l sorrowfully admit
ted-caused the bitter remorse.
Laurence told me, in one of the little
notes he kept leaving for me all day
long, that it was expected that Mr. Ray
ner would brave every thing and return
to the Alders sooner or later, if only
for flying visit, and that, in conse-
quence, the search of the house which
must take place was to be postponed,
and the place watched, with as much
caution as possible. from the outside.
BY letting the life at the Alders 90 on
as usual, it was hoped that he might be
lured back under the impression that
he was not expected to return there.
Laurence had telegraphed to my moth
er to tell her that was quite safe and
the journey put of, in order to allay
her fears about me. Mrs. Rayner
brought one of these notes up to me
late in the afternoon. In addition to
her usual pallor, she had great black
rings under her eyes and, in answer to
my inquiries, she confessed that she
had not slept all night.
II have something to tell you," she
whispered in my ear. Mrs. Saunders
drinks. and is not proper guardian
for Sarah. She is afraid of Mr.. Rayner;
but last night, knowing he was not in
the house, she was in nearly as excited
state as her patient, and was very
rough with her. Sarah's room is near
~ opposite mine, and I opened my
door and heard what sounded like 8
struggle. Maynard, who was in the
room next to the dressing-room, either
did not hear or did not like to interfere.
But now he is gone; and ought to be
used to terrors, but l am efrafd;" and
she shuddered.
''Surely tb.se is nothing to be afraid
of if you lock your door, Mrs. RaynerP''
IL have no key. Will you leave your
door open and the door at the foot Of
the turret staircasep know Won mus
not leave your bed, but it will be some
comfort to know you are within hear.
ing"
l promised, and that night, when
Jane came up to my room for the last
time, made her leave the doors open
when she went down.
The sense of being on the alert made
me wakeful, and two or three times
during the night 1 rose and stood al
the top of my staircase, listening. And
the third time / did hear something.
heard faint cry, and presently the
soft shutting of door. then steps il
the corridor below, and whispering.
crept half way down the stairs; the
whispering continued. l got to the
bottom, and recognized Sarah's voice
muttering to herself. 1 would rather
have again faced Gordon with his re.
volver than this madwoman; but was
SO anxious about Mrs. Rayner that afte,
lew MN Cr,sS cpaNr IN Rroror vo,f